How to Get Rid of Mosquitos in Home: Safe, Practical Steps

Getting mosquitoes out of your house takes three things, and they work together. You stop more coming in, you remove the water indoors where they could breed, and you deal with the ones already inside. Do all three before you reach for a spray, because otherwise you'll kill a few mosquitoes without touching the reason they keep turning up.

Stop More Mosquitoes From Getting Inside

A torn screen or a door that keeps getting propped open will undo everything else you do indoors. Go round the window screens and the screen doors looking for holes, loose edges and gaps where the frame meets the wall. Fix what you find, keep the exterior doors shut, and use the air conditioning rather than leaving unscreened windows open in the evening.

None of that is complicated, and it deals with the supply of mosquitoes coming in from outside. The CDC's home mosquito-control steps say the same thing, which is to install or repair window and door screens, keep doors closed, and run the air conditioning where you can.

• Check every window screen, including the windows you never open.
• Look at the screen doors for tears and for gaps where the frame meets the doorway.
• Keep exterior doors shut when nobody is actually walking through them.
• Watch the evening routines, like letting the dog out or carrying groceries in, where a door stands open longer than you'd think.

If the biting is concentrated in one bedroom or one living room, our guide to finding a mosquito in a room covers the search. Catching the one that's keeping you awake buys you some relief while you sort out how it got in.

Remove Water That Mosquitoes Can Use Indoors

A mosquito that gets in from outside will lay eggs indoors if there's standing water to lay them in. Once a week, empty and scrub whatever holds water, or turn it over, cover it, or get rid of it. Scrub rather than rinse, because you're removing eggs stuck to the sides rather than just changing the water.

Flowerpot saucers are the obvious place to start, especially the ones behind a big plant or under a piece of furniture where you never look. Then work through the bathrooms, the utility room and anywhere else with plants. If what you find is wriggling rather than empty, our guide to mosquito larvae in water covers what to do next.

Attach the weekly check to something you already do, since water comes back as soon as you've watered the plants or moved a container. One clearout won't hold, and the point of doing it weekly is that nothing sits long enough for a generation to develop.

Check the Places Where Adult Mosquitoes Rest

A mosquito indoors won't stay by the window it came through. They rest somewhere dark and humid, which in most houses means under the sink, in the shower, under the furniture or in the laundry room. That's why the buzzing stops and then starts again two hours later.

Search those places deliberately rather than scanning the middle of the room. Look along the walls, behind hanging clothes, around the pipes and under low furniture, and move slowly, because a mosquito on a dark or patterned surface takes a moment to resolve. A flashlight helps in the corners.

Keep that search separate from the water check, since they answer different questions. One deals with the mosquitoes already in the house and the other removes the places a new lot could develop. Doing both tells you whether you've got one stray mosquito, a gap letting them in repeatedly, or water indoors that's breeding them.

Reduce the Outdoor Pressure Around Your Home

Keeping mosquitoes out gets much harder when there are a lot of them gathered around your doors and windows. Once the inside is sorted, look at what's immediately outside, and our guide to getting rid of mosquitoes in the yard covers the wider cleanup. If you rent, report standing water or damaged screens in shared areas to whoever maintains the building.

Traps are part of that outdoor picture rather than an indoor fix. A Mosquitaire imitates a person and catches the mosquitoes hunting you, a GAT catches the ones looking for water to lay eggs in, and adding CO2 reaches the species that hunt by breath rather than by skin scent. You can compare the full range of traps if you're working out which fits your yard. None of them replaces fixing a bedroom screen.

The in-between spaces have their own answer. A garage, a covered patio, a screened porch or a workshop is where most mosquitoes get into a house from, and the Home trap is built for exactly those spaces. It works best somewhere that isn't air conditioned, since the attractant needs still air to carry. Our guide to getting rid of mosquitoes outside covers the rest of the open-air side.

Use Indoor Pesticides Carefully and Only When Needed

If mosquitoes are still turning up after you've fixed the screens and cleared the water, an indoor insecticide is a reasonable next step. Sprays and foggers work quickly, and they won't keep the house clear on their own. They don't repair a gap around a door or empty a saucer with eggs in it.

Follow the label exactly, use only the amount it says, and open the windows afterwards. The EPA's indoor pesticide precautions also recommend non-chemical methods where you have the option. Using more than the label says isn't a shortcut, and applying a pesticide against its label is illegal.

Be just as careful with anything sold as a repellent. Lanterns, diffusers, candles and coils are made for outdoor use unless the label specifically says otherwise. Read it before you bring one inside, rather than assuming that something sold for mosquitoes belongs in a bedroom. The EPA's explanation of insect repellents draws the same indoor and outdoor line.

Frequently asked questions

Can Mosquitoes Lay Eggs in a Flower Vase Indoors?

Yes. A mosquito that gets into the house will lay eggs in a vase that's holding water. Empty and scrub it weekly, or cover it or put it away when there's nothing in it.

Do Ultrasonic Mosquito Devices Work Indoors?

The EPA hasn't registered sound-wave devices with effectiveness or safety data, so there's no evidence behind them either way. Spend the money on a screen repair instead.

Should I Keep the Garage Door Closed to Stop Mosquitoes?

Yes, particularly if the garage connects to the house. A garage door left propped open is one of the most common ways mosquitoes get indoors, since the garage is dark and humid enough for them to rest in during the day and the internal door puts them a step from your kitchen.

How Often Should I Reapply an Indoor Mosquito Spray?

There's no single schedule, because it varies between products. Follow the directions and the application limits on the label of the one you've bought, rather than going by how long a different product lasted.